The West Memphis Three are Jessie Misskelley (Kristopher Higgins), Damien Echols (James Hamrick) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), who were accused of murdering three eight-year-old cub scouts in a satanic ritual in 1993. Subsequent investigations, not least in Joe Berlinger's Paradise Lost films, demolished the original "case", and the consensus now is that moral panic convicted them rather than anything in the way of evidence.

While the three are now free, the Arkansas judge responsible stopped short of actually overturning their convictions, meaning that local law enforcement officials have not had to admit to or apologise for their egregious original work, and that Echols in particular is entitled to no compensation for his 17 years spent on Death Row.

Scott Derrickson and Paul Boardman’s script is based on Mara Leveritt's book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, and focuses on the events surrounding the first trial. Egoyan rounded up Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Elisa Koteas, Amy Ryan, Stephen Moyer and Alessandro Nivola to fill some of the other key roles. Having played various festivals, the film arrives in US cinemas on May 9 but does not yet have a UK release date.